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49ers coach Jim Harbaugh loves his Stanford players and he has a sizable gap where right guard Adam Snyder used to be (Snyder signed a free-agent deal in Arizona). It leads one to believe that the 49ers might move up in the first round to snare former Cardinal guard David DeCastro. However, DeCastro might go in the top 15 and the cost of moving up 15 or more slots from the 49ers 30th overall position could decimate the rest of their draft.

There’s a better option – Harbaugh and general manager Trent Baalke could draft Stanford tackle Jonathan Martin with the 30th overall pick. The team could then put Martin at right tackle and move the current occupant, Anthony Davis, to right guard.

While the 6-5 312-pound Martin is hardly a bruiser, he might be the best pass protector in the draft. According to Stats Inc., Martin was responsible for one sack, three knockdowns and five hurries last year while protecting Andrew Luck, which was better than USC tackle Matt Kalil, a consensus top 5 pick. Martin isn’t considered to be a punishing run-blocker and did not perform well at Stanford’s Pro Day.

However, what the 49ers need is pass protection. They were 26th in sacks allowed per pass play last season and Martin could certainly help them there.

Could the 49ers be thinking the same way? When team general manager Trent Baalke was asked about the possibility of moving Davis, an excellent run-blocker to guard, he was strangely evasive. Baalke did say there’s one particular player he hopes will fall to them at no. 30. One such player other than Martin could be Virginia Tech running back David Wilson.

Again according to Stats Inc., Wilson ran for 990 of his 1,709 yards after contact, which was better than Alabama’s Trent Richardson (723) who is considered to be the top running back in the draft. Other nuggets from Stats:

Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore threw 20 touchdowns and one interception against the blitz last season.

West Virginia pass rusher Bruce Irvin, who the 49ers have taken an interest in, ranked 40th overall last year with a combined 17.5 quarterback knockdowns and hurries.

Of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck’s 30 plays of 25 or more yards, four came when the Cardinal was trailing and 12 occurred when his team was up by eight or more points.

Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon and Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd had similar stats in terms of receiving targets, explosive plays and yards per touch. However, Blackmon had a good quarterback in Brandon Weeden throwing to him, where Floyd had a series of questionable quarterbacks throwing passes his way.